The research objective of this award is to develop motion planners and controllers that exploit the dynamics of balancing mobile robots to produce fast, dynamic, graceful motions. The approach has two main components: the development of elemental closed-loop motion policies and the development of a hybrid control architecture that pieces the motion policies together to produce more complex behaviors. Motion policies that respect the underlying dynamic constraints of the system will be created by first planning trajectories in shape space and then creating feedback controllers that track the resulting trajectories. A planning layer that has an understanding of which motion policies can be gracefully composed is used to determine motion sequences that avoid obstacles and achieve some global navigation task. These sequences are encoded in a graph, creating a hybrid control architecture that appropriately switches between motion policies to achieve the desired global motion. Deliverables include algorithm development, software, research documentation, graduate student education, and demonstration of the resulting integrated system on the human-sized ballbot balancing robot. The award will provide opportunities for high- and middle-school girls to interact with balancing robots.
If successful, this award will increase the ability of balancing robots to operate safely and agilely around humans. Balancing robots have many properties that make them ideal candidates as human companions and assistive robots. Unlike statically-stable mobile robots, balancing robots can simultaneously be tall enough for eye-level interaction with humans and narrow enough to negotiate cluttered environments. Balancing robots react naturally when nudged and pushed around, making them unique platforms for physical interaction with humans. The motion planning and control algorithms developed in this project will provide a means for these robots to move in a natural-looking manner through human environments. Results will be disseminated promote further development of these technologies and to inspire the general public. Graduate and undergraduate students will benefit through direct involvement in the research, and 7-12 grade girls will be engaged in activities to explore the potential of balancing robots.
